


What Would Happen

by WandaRavenBlack



Series: Bad Things Happen - Dick Grayson [10]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Cold, Crime Fighting, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, F/M, Hugs, Protective Damian Wayne, Protective Selina Kyle, Shock, Sick Character, Worried Damian Wayne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-31 08:13:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21126494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandaRavenBlack/pseuds/WandaRavenBlack
Summary: When Damian's comm fails during a mission, Dick starts panicking.





	What Would Happen

“Master Bruce, I insist that you stay in today. Your condition got worse after yesterday’s patrol and it won’t get better if you go out tonight.” 

Bruce opened his mouth to answer but a coughing fit stopped him. He calmed down after a minute and took a deep breath. 

“I have to go out, Alfred. Damian can’t go alone.” 

His voice was raspy and strained. 

“He won’t have to go alone.” 

Both men turned to where Dick was standing in his Nightwing outfit. Bruce looked at him with surprise, before glaring at Alfred. The butler just smiled calmly. 

“I took the liberty of calling Master Dick yesterday when I realized that your condition would not get better. He agreed to take the patrol tonight with Master Damian.” 

Damian walked inside the bedroom, already dressed as Robin. 

“Are you ready, Richard?” 

Bruce’s glare shifted over to him, but had as little effect as it had on Alfred. He mentally frowned. Was he losing his touch? Or were the members of his family just so unaffected by his Bat glare? Dick smirked and nodded. 

“Yeah. Rest, Bruce. We’ll be back before you know it.” 

And he left, Damian following him without a word. Bruce groaned as Alfred grabbed his elbow and led him to the bed. 

“Was everyone in on this plan?” 

Alfred nodded. 

“Yes, Master Bruce. Even Master Jason moved the time of his shipments to be able to patrol Bludhaven for Master Dick tonight.” 

With another groan, Bruce sunk down onto the bed. In the Batcave, Damian looked at the Batmobile. Dick gave it a glance too, before shaking his head. 

“He might have agreed to not going out tonight, but taking the Batmobile will be pushing it.”

He sat on his bike and Damian quickly jumped up behind him. They drove out onto the streets and spent the first three hours without too much action. A few burglaries and a beating. Other than that, a quiet night. They stopped on a high roof and Dick sat down on the ledge, a grin on his face. 

“So, how are things?” 

Damian looked down at him with a frown, before sitting down next to him. 

“Everything’s good.” 

Dick rolled his eyes. 

“Come on, Little D. You can tell me the truth.” 

They sat in silence for a few minutes, Dick dangling his legs over the edge. When Damian spoke again, his voice was quiet and careful. 

“It’s like always. Although me and father have been arguing less than before.” 

Dick nodded. 

“That’s good. You still have the numbers I gave you, right?” 

The boy frowned at him again. 

“Yes. Although I still don’t understand why I need Selina Kyle’s number.” 

Dick leaned back a bit. 

“If anything was to happen, I need you to have someone to call. And there are times when me and Jay can’t answer.” 

Damian wrinkled his nose. 

“As if I would ever call Todd.” 

“You need to give him a chance. He’s been through more than anyone can imagine. And Selina is an old family friend. You can always call her if you need to get away for some time.” 

And, seeing Damian’s disbelieving expression, he continued:

“When I was younger, B didn’t know how to take care of a child. Especially since I was raised with many people around me and was used to getting much affection. B didn’t really know how to act around me in the beginning. He would sometimes disappear for a few days, either to the cave or on meetings and forget that I was still at home. One night, I tried to go out and find B and got in trouble. Selina saved me, took me home with her and let me stay with her for a few days. She must’ve talked with B during that time, because he came to pick me up from Selina’s place and actually apologized. It got better after that, but there was still some tough days. When they came, I would always run away to Selina.” 

Damian nodded slowly.

“I understand.” 

Seeing that the boy clearly didn't want to talk anymore, Dick stood up and stretched. 

“Alright. Let’s go see if we can find someone more to beat up.” 

They swung from roof to roof, when they heard a gunshot.

“Was that from the old warehouse?” 

Dick nodded. 

“I think so. Let’s go.” 

They stopped on the roof next to the warehouse, looking down at men carrying boxes into cars. 

“Penguin? Isn’t he supposed to be in Arkham?” 

Damian shook his head. 

“He escaped three days ago. We haven’t been able to get him yet.” 

Dick let his eyes sweep around the grounds, before nodding to Damian. 

“I’ll take care of the ones out here and you get inside. See if there are any hostages. Be careful.” 

The boy drew his sword and ran away, circling the building to get in from the back. Meanwhile, Dick dropped down from the roof, immediately starting to fight. He managed to take four of them by surprise, before the others realized what was happening and started to fight back. He kept flipping between them, chuckling from time to time when he got in a good hit. He heard Damian fight over the comms, before sudden silence filled his ear. He frowned. 

“Robin?” 

No answer. He ducked under a bat and spoke a bit louder. 

“Robin! Come in!” 

Still silence. He started to get worried. He still remembered that one time Tim got captured by Scarecrow and his comm got destroyed. Him and Bruce got there in the last second. Just a moment later and Tim would have ended up in a heart attack. Penguin had a tendency to work with Joker and if the clown got his hands on Damian… Dick felt his heart sink. 

“Robin! Where are you?!” 

Still no answer. A picture of Jason’s torn up suit flashed in front of his eyes. He got so distracted that one of the men actually managed to hit him with a metal pipe on his side. He gasped in pain as he felt a few ribs crack. The pain brought him back enough to get him fighting again. He took down five more men trying to call in Damian a few more times. Still nothing. He beat the last three men more violently than necessary, and shot into the warehouse. He went from room to room, keeping on guard all the time. 

“Robin. Come in.” 

Nothing. He rushed into one of the rooms and almost got hit in the head by a sword. Damian stopped it in the last second, his eyes widening behind the mask. 

“What are you…?” 

He didn’t get to finish because Dick pulled him into a hug, burying his face in the boy’s hair. 

“You’re alright.” 

Damian huffed. 

“Of course I’m alright. What are you talking about?” 

Dick just closed his eyes and pulled the boy closer. His ribs were protesting against that, but he ignored them. All that mattered was that Damian was safe. Hesitantly, the boy patted his back a few times, before untangling himself from his arms and taking a step back. 

“Is something wrong?” 

Dick opened his eyes and took a deep breath. 

“I thought you were…” 

He couldn’t bring himself to finish that sentence, but it was enough for the boy. He shook his head. 

“I hit my head on a table and the comm died.” 

“I thought… After Jason I don’t think I can… I…” 

Damian was shocked. He had never seen Dick in such state. 

“I’m alive. A bit bruised up, but alive.” 

Dick pulled him in for another hug, and Damian let him. He didn’t understand why Dick was reacting so strongly. His comm dying meant that he hadn’t heard from Dick either and he wasn’t acting like that because of it. He wasn’t sure what to do, until he suddenly remembered his previous conversation with the young man. Using one hand, he pulled out his phone, texted the coordinates and ‘RICHARD NEEDS HELP’ to Selina and then put his hands around Dick. He didn’t know how to calm down a crying person, but he had noticed pretty early on that Dick loved touch. He would touch everyone all the time, from standing too close to Bruce, to randomly hugging Damian, messing with Tim’s hair and sitting right next to Jason. To his surprise it had turned out that the person who knew best how to deal with it was Jason. Their father didn’t like having people so close to him, even if they were family, Tim was confused, and Damian didn’t know how to respond. But Jason seemed to be alright with it. Sometimes he would even instigate the touch, putting his arm around Dick’s shoulders or hugging him out of the blue. Of course when Damian had pointed this out to the anti-hero, he had almost ended up with a bullet in his stomach. He pulled himself out of his thoughts when he heard quick footsteps nearing them. Selina appeared in the doorway, dressed in her civilian clothes. 

“Dickie?” 

Dick looked up at her and she smiled, before pulling him to his feet and hugging him. 

“What happened? Are you two hurt?” 

Damian shook his head. He still didn’t trust this woman, but it seemed that Dick did. But, then again, Dick sometimes trusted people like Midnighter or Deathstroke, so his opinion should never be counted as valid. 

“We separated to cover more ground. My comm died and Richard thought something had happened to me.” 

Her eyes widened and she sighed. 

“I have a car outside. Let’s get you two back to the mansion. I can keep an eye on the city for a night. I’m guessing B’s cold got much worse?” 

Damian nodded as he helped the woman lead Dick to the car. They got outside and he looked around at the knocked out men. Damian nodded in appreciation, until he saw three of the men closest to the door. Leaving Dick with Selina, he moved over to them and checked the pulse. It was there, but the injuries they had were extensive. This kind of violence was nothing he had seen from Dick before. 

“After Jason, he beat Joker so bad that the doctors didn’t know if he would ever be able to walk again. I’m scared about what he might do if you got hurt.” 

He looked at Dick and was shocked by the empty look in his eyes. Leaving the men on the ground, he helped Selina put Dick in the back seat before sitting down in the passenger seat and pulling out his phone again. As Selina drove, he punched in a second number he never thought he would have to use. 

“What?” 

“Todd. Get back to Gotham. Richard needs you.” 

“What happened?” 

He heard a motorcycle revving up and almost smiled. When it came to Dick, Jason would drop everything and race to get to him. He had overheard Tim asking the older boy about it once and Jason had answered that he cared about Dick, because Dick gave him a chance and didn’t turn away from him even when he was on his killer spree. Dick was his brother and he would do anything for him. 

“My comm died and Richard thought that something had happened to me.” 

He heard a curse. 

“I’ll be there in 20 minutes.” 

Damian hung up and, after a few seconds hesitation, climbed into the backseat, letting Dick pull him into a hug again. They would be fine. Jason would know how to deal with Dick. Everything would go back to normal. It had to. 


End file.
